


Gifts and Lessons

by SonjaJade



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: F/M, Gift Giving, Long-Distance Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-25
Updated: 2017-03-25
Packaged: 2018-10-10 16:54:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10442613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SonjaJade/pseuds/SonjaJade
Summary: Al and Mei gave each other special gifts before parting ways, and as others notice them, they learn new life lessons.





	

“Hey, that’s pretty!” Winry said as she served Al a plate piled high with food.  
  
Al looked down to see what it was his friend found so lovely, then felt his cheeks heat when he realized she was talking about the single green bead that had been strung on a thin black cord.  “Thanks.”  
  
“Is it Mei’s?” she asked, not paying any attention to Edward’s smug grin in the chair next to Al.  
  
“Y-yeah,” Al admitted as he began to whittle away at his salisbury steak.  “It was sort of a goodbye present.”  
  
He remembered how she nervously handed him one of her pink hair ribbons with the bead on it, how he’d transmuted the ribbon into the black string that he wore now.  He remembered reaching under the bed and tugging one of the mangled armor gauntlets that used to be his hand, and transmuting the steel and leather into a necklace for her; it was a simple steel disk with the flamel imprinted on it on a length of leather lacing.  He remembered how she cried at his gift, how she shyly kissed him (and he’d shyly kissed her back) before she left his hospital room… how they promised they would reunite, no matter what…  
  
“Aww, that was really sweet of her,” Winry cooed.  “She’s really a very nice girl, Al.  I wish you the best of luck.”  
  
“Maybe you can make kissy faces with her again someday,” Ed teased, which earned him a bony elbow to the ribs.  
  
“Shut _up_ , Brother!”  
  
“Did you slip her the tongue?” Granny asked as she blew across a forkful of mashed potatoes.  
  
“ _Granny!_ ” Winry, Ed and Al all said together.  
  
“What?  Everyone knows kisses without tongue are just a waste of time,” she muttered as she stuffed food into her jaw.  Dinner went on as usual after a drastic change of conversation, and for the moment, Al’s new girlfriend was temporarily forgotten.

* * *

Across the desert, in a green lush land, a caravan of travelers returning home from Amestris were camped near a hot spring.  The two girls were urged to bathe first, and so they entered the spring together and sat relaxing in the sulphur scented waters  The sunlight filtered through the thick canopy overhead and Lan Fan’s eyes were drawn to a spark of light around Mei’s neck.  
  
At first she thought it was a coin.  But then she saw the strange symbol that the Fullmetal Alchemist wore on his coat, the same symbol that suit of armor had painted on his left shoulder…  
  
“Your necklace, it’s from Alphonse isn’t it.”  
  
Mei met her gaze and nodded.  “It’s made from the armor; from his right hand.”  
  
Lan Fan looked down at her reflection in the warm waters, a sad look lurking in her eyes.  “That’s a very touching gift.”  
  
They sat in silence a little while, enjoying the more familiar sights and sounds of Xing and knowing their journey home was nearly over.  At last, Lan Fan spoke once more.  
  
“There are some things that are more important than immortality and sitting on the throne of Xing.  You have something very special with Alphonse, do not squander it.”  
  
Mei nodded before sinking deeper into the spring, her fingers tracing and retracing the marks on the disk.  She sat up and said, “There are some things more important than pride and honor…  and life is too short to wait for the right moment, so don’t you squander your opportunity with Ling.”  
  
Lan Fan flinched at her words.  A few minutes later, she rose and wrapped a towel around herself and stepped out of the spring.  She said softly over her shoulder, “Perhaps there is a lot we can learn from one another.”  
  
Mei gave her a small smile.  “Perhaps there is.”


End file.
